A Nation Transformed by Information

How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present

Edited by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. and James W. Cortada

This book makes the startling case that North Americans were getting on the "information highway" as early as the 1700's, and have been using it as a critical building block of their social, economic, and political world ever since. From the beginning North Americans were willing to invest in the infrastructure to make such connectivity possible. This book explores what the deployment of these technologies says about American society. The editors assembled a group of contributors who are experts in their particular fields and worked with them to create a book that is fully integrated and cross-referenced.

A Nation Transformed by Information

How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present

Edited by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. and James W. Cortada

Description

This book makes the startling case that North Americans were getting on the "information highway" as early as the 1700's, and have been using it as a critical building block of their social, economic, and political world ever since. By the time of the founding of the United States, there was a postal system and roads for the distribution of mail copyright laws to protect intellectual property, and newspapers, books, and broadsides to bring information to a populace that was building a nation on the basis of an informed electorate. In the 19th century, Americans developed the telegraph, telephone, and motion pictures, inventions that further expanded the reach of information. In the 20th century they added television, computers, and the Internet, ultimately
connecting themselves to a whole world of information. From the beginning North Americans were willing to invest in the infrastructure to make such connectivity possible. This book explores what the deployment of these technologies says about American society. The editors assembled a group of contributors who are experts in their particular fields and worked with them to create a book that is fully integrated and cross-referenced.

A Nation Transformed by Information

How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present

Edited by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. and James W. Cortada

Table of Contents

Contributors1. The Information Age in Historical Perspective: Introduction, Alfred D. Chandler Jr.2. Early American Origins of the Information Age, Richard D. Brown3. Recasting the Information Infrastructure for the Industrial Age, Richard R. John4. Business Use of Information and Technology during the Industrial Age, JoAnne Yates5. The Threshold of the Information Age: Radio, Televsion, and Motion Pictures Mobilize the Nation, Margaret Graham6. Progenitors of the Information Age: The Development of Chips and Computers, James W. Cortada7. Information Technology Management Since 1960, Richar L. Nolan8. Computers in U.S. Households Since 1977, Lee S. Sproull9. The Information Age: Continuities and Differences, Alfred D.Chandler Jr. and James W. CortadaNotesBibliographic Essay on the Role of Information in the Transformation of the United StatesIndex

A Nation Transformed by Information

How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present

Edited by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. and James W. Cortada

Reviews and Awards

This is a pioneering effort to illustrate a simple fact-that the American information 'revolution' is anything but new.